The mood is right for revolutions

More than 40 years ago, a friend, an ex-marine, who served in Vietnam and survived countless firefights and fortunately returned home miraculously unscathed, would always tell me, “It only takes one man to start a revolution.” How right he was, and it was proven again just last week in Egypt. Of course, it would be more appropriate to say that it only takes one person to start a revolution.

I always believed that “technology wins wars.” Had the Native Americans been equipped with guns and the white man had none, history could have been altered dimensionally. The United States would likely have never existed. All the trappings, including slavery, needed to sustain invading, power-hungry forces sent by European nobility to commandeer the riches of this “New Frontier” might never have proliferated. The Native Americans would have clearly been victorious over the invaders.

As for the people of Egypt I thank them. They may have changed the world.

I thank them for two very crucial actions. First, they had the strength to stand up to confront injustice and oppression and second, they did so without the use of weapons, which was perhaps their greatest strength. They chose to risk death unarmed with the exception of a cell phone which gained them public sentiment and global support.

The days of the “New Frontiers” are over, and that is clearly old-school thinking. I’m still trying to comprehend what is meant by the “New World Order.” Is that just “Old World Thinking” by men in cowboy boots? What is clear is that wars will never be fought the same way. Unless someone can figure out how to make armies, men, and equipment invisible, most weapons may be overruled by the cell phone and the internet.

Beyond that, as it has been proven throughout history, when the disparity between the rich and the masses becomes so vast, people will rise up. Let’s hope that this cyber-technology (as it certainly is poised to do) will bear witness to those ignorant, irresponsible and blatantly counterproductive zealots bent on denying us, our children, and everyone the opportunity of rich full lives, to which we are all entitled. With the synergy of a billion-plus people and growing exponentially every year, let it be abundantly clear that no one can escape the eyes of the web. No one.